LGBTQ Issues, Coverage of

Coverage of issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-identified, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals has a very mixed history, both in terms [Page 928]of the amount of coverage and tone. This entry provides a brief examination of journalistic coverage of LGBTQ people and issues in the United States and points out the roles played by both mainstream and alternative journalistic sources in this reporting.

The basic trajectory of the coverage of LGBTQ people and issues can be best understood by examining key moments in LGBTQ history as lenses through which to view journalism’s interest in the subject. Eight defining eras in LGBTQ news coverage can be broadly described in the following ways: indifference/sensationalism, stigmatization, the movement toward rights, pride, AIDS backlash, the inclusion of bisexuals and transgender ...